Basic Trope: An ally betrays their leader because they were mistreated by them.
- Straight:
- Dracone betrays Emperor Evulz because he was treated poorly by him.
- Charlie turns against the heroes because they didn't treat them well.
- Exaggerated:
- All of Emperor Evulz' minions betray him and become permanent members of the heroes.
- All of the heroes betray Bob and become affiliated with Emperor Evulz.
- Downplayed:
- Dracone temporarily turns against Evulz when the latter angrily snaps at the former.
- Charlie temporarily turns against Bob when the latter angrily snaps at the former.
- Justified: Dracone or Charlie can take so much abuse from their teammates that they can't take it anymore. Betrayal is the only way to sever all ties.
- Inverted:
- Dracone aligns with Emperor Evulz because he treated him well.
- Charlie sides with the heroes because they treated him well.
- Dracone betrays Emperor Evulz because he was being treated well — too well, in his opinion, and he was getting sick and tired of being coddled, babied or worse, pitied.
- Charlie betrays Bob because he was being treated well — too well, in his opinion, and he was getting sick and tired of being coddled, babied, or worse, pitied.
- Subverted:
- It is then revealed that Dracone betrayed Evulz for other reasons (i.e., To take his place as the leader).
- It's revealed that Charlie betrayed the heroes because he was The Mole.
- Double Subverted:
- Despite those reasons, his poor treatment at the hands of Evulz was what drove him to finally betray him under the pressure of all these issues.
- It turns out that the heroes lied about him being the mole to avoid responsibility of their mistreatment of Charlie.
- Parodied:
- Dracone betrayed Evulz because he was forced to clean toilets.
- Charlie betrayed the heroes because they played a harmless prank on him.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Dracone remains loyal to Emperor Evulz, no matter how he is treated.
- Alternatively, Dracone betrays Evulz, but only for a completely different reason.
- Charlie remains loyal to the heroes no matter what they do to him.
- Charlie betrays the heroes for different reasons.
- Enforced:
- "We need to figure out how to turn Dracone good. I know, we'll have him betray him out of mistreatment."
- "Let's give a good reason why Charlie betrayed the heroes. It can be because of mistreatment."
- Lampshaded: "It serves you right for treating me like trash!"
- Invoked:
- Dracone attempts to inspire other mistreated minions to rebel against Emperor Evulz.
- Emperor Evulz lists off every mean and horrible thing the jerkass heroes have done to Charlie since he joined, in an attempt to get him to betray them.
- Exploited:
- Fully aware that Dracone is going to betray him due to his Bad Boss tendencies, Evulz places a death curse on him. The second Dracone joins the heroes, Evulz activates the curse, killing Dracone and every good guy and winning.
- Having noticed that Charlie is going to betray the heroes for bullying him, Evulz decides to secretly recruit him and use him as The Mole. Charlie later leads the heroes to a Death Trap, giving the victory to Evulz.
- Noticing that the Mooks are going to betray Evulz due to his constant mistreatment of them, the heroes fake their deaths, expecting Evulz to successfully Take Over the World and then the mooks to overthrow and kill him, which happens. However, their lack of leadership allows the heroes to easily defeat them and save the world.
- When the jerkass heroes realizes that Charlie is going to betray them due to them abusing him, they deliberately give Charlie false or outdated information about them. When Charlie betrays them, he ends up unknowingly leading Evulz in a trap. The heroes crush Evulz since he wasn't properly prepared to face them and sincerely apologize to Charlie for all the bad things they have done to him.
- Defied:
- Evulz discovers dissenting opinions amongst his workers and decides to increase their pay and quality of life to avoid defection.
- Alternatively, he has the dissenters silently assassinated.
- Or, Evulz hires henchmen who are reasonably strong but not smart enough to consider betrayal.
- The heroes, despite how most of them feel about Charlie, avoid mistreating him so they can keep him on their side.
- Discussed:
- "Why does Evulz mistreat his henchmen and act surprised whenever they betray him?"
- "I know the heroes are kind of dickish, but Charlie had no right to betray them like that!"
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Dracone arrives in front of the heroes, unarmed and carrying maps of Emperor Evulz' secret bases.
- Deconstructed:
- Emperor Evulz' constant mistreatment of his troops lead to widespread desertion, which forces him to place a stronger hold on those who remain, imposing stricter curfews and increased patrols preventing Dracone's defection.
- Despite Charlie being constantly mistreated by the heroes, Bob and the other heroes tell him that he's no better either because betrayal is a line heroes don't cross. In addition, the heroes see Charlie's betrayal as Disproportionate Retribution on his part and that just quitting the group would be a better solution for him than betraying them.
- Reconstructed:
- Dracone, seeing that desertion would no longer work, convinces his equally annoyed colleagues to incite an overthrow of Evulz' authority in place of deserting.
- Charlie states that he doesn't care, because they deserved it. He also retorts that the heroes only say that to make him guilty and that they don't feel sorry for how they treated him. With that, Charlie goes on his own way, and not be around the "pathetic excuses for heroes".
Back to Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal.
